KDL Recommends

Wanting desperately to go on an adventure, Avon the snail joins up with his new friend Edward the ant to see the world and are soon on a wondrous journey where they see incredible sights and meet fantastic creatures of all shapes and sizes — including a very amicable dragon!
Lexile Level: 620
Guided Reading Level: Q

The courageous dormouse from Poppy, a winner of the Scott O’Dell and Christopher Awards, returns home after the loss of her beloved fiance to find her family in trouble and — to her great surprise — a new love.
Lexile Level: 620
Guided Reading Level: S

In Anchorage, Alaska, two lonely boys make a connection — a brown bear injured just after his mother sends him out on his own, and a human whose father is a new keeper at the Alaska Zoo and whose mother and sister are still in Minnesota.
Lexile Level: 820
Guided Reading Level: T

When she finds the key to a secret passageway leading out of the walled city of Bridewell, twelve-year-old Alexa realizes her lifelong wish to explore the mysterious forests and mountains that lie beyond the wall.
Lexile Level: 940
Guided Reading Level: Y

When eleven-year-old Gregor and his two-year-old sister are pulled into a strange underground world, they trigger an epic battle involving men, bats, rats, cockroaches, and spiders while on a quest foretold by ancient prophecy.
Lexile Level: 630
Guided Reading Level: T

On his eleventh birthday Will Stanton discovers that he is the last of the Old Ones, destined to seek the six magical Signs that will enable the Old Ones to triumph over the evil forces of the Dark.
Lexile Level: 920
Guided Reading Level: X

In the fourth volume of the author’s The Dark Is Rising quintet, Will Stanton arrives in North Wales and undertakes his call, as last-born of the Old Ones, to sound the golden harp and wake the Six Sleepers.
Lexile Level: 930
Guided Reading Level: X

Thirteen-year-old Sophie and her cousin Cody record their transatlantic crossing aboard The Wanderer, a forty-five foot sailboat, which, along with uncles and another cousin, is en route to visit their grandfather in England.
Lexile Level: 830
Guided Reading Level: V

Alone in the frontier wilderness in the winter of 1839 while his father is recovering from an injury, eleven-year-old Nathan runs afoul of the renegade killer known as Weasel and makes a surprising discovery about the concept of revenge.
Lexile Level: 870

Edward Tulane, a cold-hearted and proud toy rabbit, loves only himself until he is separated from the little girl who adores him and travels across the country, acquiring new owners and listening to their hopes, dreams, and histories.
Lexile Level: 700
Guided Reading Level: Q

Portia and her cousin Julian discover adventure in a hidden colony of forgotten summer houses on the shores of a swampy lake.
Lexile Level: 760
Guided Reading Level: V

When a shipwreck leaves Alec Ramsay stranded on an island with only a wild stallion for a companion, the boy and the horse establish a warm and trusting friendship that continues after they are rescued.
Lexile Level: 680
Guided Reading Level: T

After Jack becomes apprenticed to a Druid bard, he and his little sister Lucy are captured by Viking Berserkers and taken to the home of King Ivar the Boneless and his half-troll queen, leading Jack to undertake a vital quest to Jotunheim, home of the trolls.
Lexile Level: 670
Guided Reading Level: X

A bratty prince and his whipping boy have many adventures when they inadvertently trade places after becoming involved with dangerous outlaws.
Lexile Level: 570
Guided Reading Level: R

Kidnapped by the crew of an Africa-bound ship, a thirteen-year-old boy discovers to his horror that he is on a slaver and his job is to play music for the exercise periods of the human cargo.
Lexile Level: 970
Guided Reading Level: Y

Escaping the aunt who wants to adopt only one of them, two orphaned brothers run away from Hamburg to Venice, finding shelter with a gang of street children and their leader, the thirteen-year-old “Thief Lord,” while also eluding the detective hired to return them to Germany.
Lexile Level: 640
Guided Reading Level: V

In spite of tremendous odds, a ten-year-old boy and his dog are determined to win a dogsled race and the five-hundred-dollar prize.
Lexile Level: 550
Guided Reading Level: P

While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of Alaska and is befriended by a wolf pack.
Lexile Level: 860
Guided Reading Level: U

A young boy relates his adventures during the year he spends living alone in the Catskill Mountains, including his struggle for survival, his dependence on nature, his animal friends, and his ultimate realization that he needs human companionship.
Lexile Level: 810
Guided Reading Level: U

In the rugged landscape of early frontier Texas, fourteen-year-old Travis is faced with taking over his family’s farm and making a painful, important decision.
Lexile Level: 910
Guided Reading Level: V

Four people are transported to the dream-like world of Shangri-La where life is eternal and civilization refined.
Lexile Level: 1060
Guided Reading Level: NR

When their plane goes down in the remote frozen wilderness of Canada’s Northwest Territories, fifteen-year-old Gabe Rogers and his roommate, Raymond Providence, a Dene Indian boy, must depend on each other as they struggle to survive the harsh subarctic winter and reach safety.
Lexile Level: 820
Guided Reading Level: NR

Dotti, a bold young haremaid, and a warrior badger named Lord Brocktree embark on an adventure together to the mountain of the badger lords, which is being attacked by a mountain cat named Ungatt Trunn.
Lexile Level: 820
Guided Reading Level: Y

When Redwall Abbey is threatened by the evil rat Cluny, it is up to Matthias, a young mouse, to destroy the enemy.
Lexile Level: 820
Guided Reading Level: Y

A collection of seven high-energy short stories about Japan’s samurai warriors touches on their way of life, courage, wit, and foolishness in action-packed tales that are both funny and profound.
Lexile Level: 650
Guided Reading Level: NR

A courageous young mongoose matches wits with two wicked and deadly cobras, Nag and Nagaina, as he seeks to protect his young master and his family, in a story drawn from The Jungle Book.
Lexile Level: 810

When four kids on a marine expedition for the summer discover a sunken treasure, it is a race against time, sharks, and each other to bring the goods to shore.
Lexile Level: 760
Guided Reading Level: R

A dramatic new survival trilogy follows a group of six kids who have been sent to a deserted island for a character-building experience as they embark on a quest for survival that will test their limits.
Lexile Level: 610
Guided Reading Level: Q

Fourteen-year-old John Spencer survives the wreck of his ship on the coast of Cornwall, England, but he may not survive the evil of the murderous pirates who loot the ships that wreck on their shore.
Lexile Level: 640
Guided Reading Level: X

Fifteen-year-old Charles Wallace and the unicorn Gaudior embark on a journey through time and peril to prevent the destruction of the world by the mad dictator Madog Branzillo.
Lexile Level: 850
Guided Reading Level: V

Part wolf and part dog, orphaned White Fang relies on his instincts as well as his inborn strength and courage to survive in the Yukon wilderness despite both animal and human predators, but eventually comes to make his peace with man.
Lexile Level: 970
Guided Reading Level: Y

An actual incident in which Norwegian children smuggled gold past the Nazis is the basis for this story of courage and patriotism.
Lexile Level: 690
Guided Reading Level: R

Tired of his mother’s overprotectiveness and intrigued by the life of African American explorer Matthew Henson, twelve-year-old Alvin travels north and spends a season with a trapper near the Arctic Circle.
Lexile Level: 600
Guided Reading Level: S

Andy’s entering the fifth-grade essay contest stirs his imagination to creative heights as he competes with his know-it-all cousin by making recipes with some unusual food sources and testing them on unaware friends and family.
Lexile Level: 820
Guided Reading Level: Q

After years of being strictly house cats, Marco and Polo escape into the wonderful, but dangerous outside world and are sent on three challenging adventures by a group of cats known as the Club of Mysteries.
Lexile Level: 810
Guided Reading Level: S

An inquisitive mouse becomes involved in an intrigue when she discovers her late husband had been held captive at a strange laboratory.
Lexile Level: 940
Guided Reading Level: V

Records the courage and self-reliance of an Indian girl who lived alone for eighteen years on an isolated island off the California coast when her tribe emigrated and she was left behind.
Lexile Level: 1000
Guided Reading Level: V

Roman Sanchez, whose S.W.A.T. team father had been killed in the line of duty, must cope with fear, memories, and extreme danger when he and three others are held hostage by masked gunmen in a mountain cabin.
Lexile Level: 600
Guided Reading Level: R

Because of his success surviving alone in the wilderness for fifty-four days, fifteen-year-old Brian, profoundly changed by his time in the wild, is asked to undergo a similar experience to help scientists learn more about the psychology of survival.
Lexile Level: 960
Guided Reading Level: R

Dr. Jake Cooper, his son Jay, and adventurer-journalist Meaghan Flaherty evade angry terrorists and cannibal tribes as they desperately search for Lila Cooper after her plane is hijacked in a remote corner of the Pacific.
Lexile Level: 840
Guided Reading Level: NR

Having lost their home when the Revolutionary War reached their part of rural Pennsylvania, Thomas and his family start a new life running an inn in Philadelphia, where Thomas finds new danger that takes him into captivity among the Iroquois.
Lexile Level: 720

In 1558 while imprisoned in a remote castle, a young girl becomes involved in a series of events that leads to an underground labyrinth peopled by the last practitioners of druidic magic.
Lexile Level: 1020
Guided Reading Level: NR

Joining her cousin Ruby on a search for Ruby’s missing father leads Hildy to a confrontation with wealthy cattleman Ozzie Kessick.
Lexile Level: 760
Guided Reading Level: NR

When Rashad Gaines takes a job cleaning out an abandoned theater, he wonders if the mishaps that keep occuring have any connection with the last production, a science fiction tale about a rejuvenation machine.
Lexile Level: 640
Guided Reading Level: NR

Retells the legendary story of the Huns’ and Magyars’ long migration from Asia to Europe where they hope to find a permanent home.
Lexile Level: 1020
Guided Reading Level: NR

Blake, a responsible sixteen-year-old, and his reckless younger brother, Quinn, are plunged into a strange phantom carnival where, in exchange for their souls, Blake must survive seven different rides that embody his deepest fears and darkest secrets.
Lexile Level: 700
Guided Reading Level: W

Left alone to guard the family’s wilderness home in eighteenth-century Maine, a boy is hard-pressed to survive until local Indians teach him their skills.
Lexile Level: 770
Guided Reading Level: U

A wild August torrent sweeps Abel Mouse away from home, family, and familiar world to an uninhabited island where, between efforts to return home, he makes new discoveries about himself and the world.
Lexile Level: 920
Guided Reading Level: T

While going through the possessions of a deceased guest who owed them money, the mistress of the inn and her son find a map that leads them to a pirate’s treasure.
Lexile Level: 1100
Guided Reading Level: Z

Entering an underground cave armed with nothing more than a few supplies and their innermost fears and secrets, four boys must band together when they discover that they are lost and running out of time.
Lexile Level: 680
Guided Reading Level: NR

Twelve-year-old Carey is unhappy about being sent on a trip to Kenya with his wacky Aunt Elaine, until he encounters fascinating customs, endangered animals, and wild adventures.
Lexile Level: 780
Guided Reading Level: NR

Follows the adventures, joys, and heartaches of a privileged and prejudiced Dutch boy stranded on a remote tropical island with a kindly and wise West Indian, following an enemy attack on a boat leaving Curaçao.
Lexile Level: 860
Guided Reading Level: V